Niko Bellic
Niko Bellic is a character in the Grand Theft Auto series who appears as the main protagonist of Grand Theft Auto IV, and a supporting character in The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony. Niko is a Yugoslavian immigrant, who at first, claims to come to Liberty City in order to visit his cousin, Roman Bellic, but later reveals that his reason to come to the city, is to find the person who sold out his friends to the enemies during the Yugoslavian War. Niko Bellic was voiced by Michael Hollick. Hollick voiced Niko in GTA IV, but due to some increasing issues with Rockstar Games over Hollick's salary, he wasn't involved in GTA IV's episdoes, and instead, recording tapes were used. Background Early life Niko was born to Milica Bellic and Mr. Bellic, in 1978 inside a village in Eastern Europe. He had an older brother. Niko's other known reletives were his father's brother, his wife, and their child, Niko's cousin, Roman Bellic. Niko and Roman were very close to each other, and played together every day. Their fathers were both drunk, sadistic, wife beaters who lived next door to each other. Although his relationship with his father was awful, Niko and his mother had a loving relationship with each other. But, his mother was unhappy that her son grew up in such a harsh place and claims that it is the reason why Niko is the man he is during the start of the game. Niko and his family grew up in an extremely poor environment, as they didn't have an electricity until Niko was twelve. During his time as a child, Niko became friends with Darko Brevic, Florian Cravic, Dragan, Goran, Dmitar, Mijo and 8 other boys, though he said to Roman that only 8 of the boys were his personal friends. Yugoslavian Wars Niko joined the army as a teenage soilder (since the Yugoslav Wars took place between 1991 and 1995 this means Niko was only 13-17 years old at the time), alongside Darko, Florain and the other 10 boys, and they all served in the same squad. Niko served as a helicopter pilot, an infantryman and was even able to drive tanks during the war. At some point, Niko's brother was killed, though it is unknown how. His father and uncle's fate after the war is unknown. During the war, Niko both witnessed and committed numerous atrocities, which led to his cynical perspective on life, and a certain degree of regret, depression, and emotional detachment. In one mission during the war, Niko's squad was ambushed by there enemy forces, and all but Niko himself, and two other soldiers, were killed. After the ambush, Niko heard that someone of the squad sold it, and thats how their enemies knew the squad's location. Niko found that the two other soldiers who survived where Darko and Florian, but didn't know where they were. At another point during the war, Niko oversaw the execution of many children in a village by enemy soldiers. During that time. Roman fled to Liberty City, in order to escape the war, while his mother stayed and sent him every money she had. One day Niko found Romam's mother raped and murdered. Knowing that it would too hard to say to Roman, Niko told that she died in a house fire. Niko kept that secret for over 10 years, until he told what really happened in 2008 to his girlfriend, Kate McReary. Working for Bulgarin Niko worked in the European criminal underworld, leading to a period of incarceration. After his release from prison, in the late 1990s, until 2007/8, Niko worked for the powerful Russian crimelord, Ray Bulgarin, in smuggling people into Italy from Eastern Europe. However, in one mission one ship was sank. Niko forced to leave it and according to him "swim for his life". Bulgarin lost a lot of money because of that, and blamed Niko for his loss, and begun to hunt down Niko. In early 2008, Niko escaped from Bulgarin via a ship called the "Platypus", and joined the merchant navy. After seven months in ship, Niko arrived to Liberty City. Events of GTA IV Era Arrival to USA In 2008, Niko finally arrives to Liberty City, after spending seven months in the ship. After a brief talk with his Egyptian friend Hossan Ramzy, Niko took his bag and went off the ship to the docks. After waiting a few minutes, Roman arrives to the place; the two cousins were very happy to see each other. After a short talk about each others language problems and Roman being slighty drunk, Niko drives Roman and himself to Roman's house, though he suprised to see that Roman arrived with a cab, and not a sport car. Niko stops the car near a building in Hove Beach, Broker, Niko discovers that all of what Roman told him and his mother - is a lie. In Roman's apartment, Niko confronts Roman about his lies that he wrote to Niko and his mother. Roman, instead, asks Niko why did he arrive to the United States after a long time in their home country. As Niko begins to explain, Roman fell in sleep. Niko angrily wakes up Roman, who has to go right away to the taxi depot and gives Niko the directions on how to find it. First days in Liberty City Confilct with the Albanians A while later, Niko enters to Roman's car depot, where he meets Mallorie Bardas, Roman's secretary and girlfriend, and Vlad Glebov, a loan shark whom Roman owns him money. Roman later tells Niko to drive them to the hardware store on Dillon Street in Schottler, a front for a back-room gambling racket. Roman also reveals that the money he uses to play is the money he owns to Albanian mobsters. Before entering to the store, Roman gives Niko a phone, and tells him to call him if the Albanians will come. As the Albanians arrive, Niko calls Roman, and the two escape from the area. Hours later, two Albanians named Bledar Morina and Dardan Petrela enter Roman's office at his depot and try to kill him. Niko arrives, (who received a text message from Roman a few hours before the attack even took place), breaks Dardan's arm and both men cowardly escape before Niko could get his hands on Bledar as well. As they head out Niko yells out that if they ever come back, he will kill the two of them. Finally, Niko gets a phone call from Roman, who tells him that the Albanians injured him in the basketball courts in Firefly Projects, and are about to finish their work. Niko quickly arrives, kills both Bledar and another Albanian named Kalem Vulaj in a fistfight, but their leader, Dardan, takes his car and escapes. Niko and Roman give a chase, ending in BOABO, where Niko kills Dardan, in a fistfight. Niko and Roman then drive back to the depot, and tells him about Ray Bulgarin, stating that Bulgarin is similar to Dardan, though is more powerful. Following the Albanians' defeat, Niko and Roman begin to hang out together. Date with Michelle After his second encounter with the Albanians at Roman's taxi depot, Roman asks Niko to drive Mallorie and her friend Michelle. Niko drives the women from Hove Beach LTA subway station to Michelle's home. During the drive, Mallorie suggests that Niko and Michelle should date together. The two accept, and after Niko leaves the women, he calls to Roman, who tells him to go to the Russian clothing store on Mohawk. After Niko buys new clothes, he sets a date with Michelle, which can be done before or after Niko final confrontion with the Albanians. Niko enters to Michelle's house, and the two drive to the carnival, called "funfair" by Niko. When the two arrive, Michelle notices that the carnival is closed, and the two decide to play bowling. After the game, Niko takes Michelle back to her house, and the two begin to date. Taxi Jobs for Roman First clash with the police After the defeat of the Albanians, Niko enters to Roman's depot, where he sees Vlad flirting with Mallorie. Niko asks where is Roman, but Mallorie does not know. Vlad tells Niko to make him a coffee, but Niko refuses, making Vlad angry. Roman then enters to the office, where he is threatened by Vlad for not paying his debt. Roman then gets a phone call from a regular customer, Jermaine Andrews. Niko arrives to Jermaine's place, who asks him to drive him to Masterson Street in Hove Beach. During the drive, Jermaine tells that there's a shipment of stolen auto parts in the lockup that he intends to resell; he just needs Niko's help in transporting them. The two are ambushed by the police, but Niko is able to escape them and drive away from the place, to Jermaine's place of job, Pay 'n' Spray. Meeting Little Jacob A while later, Niko gets another taxi job from Roman, this time, to drive Roman's friend Little Jacob. Jacob asks Niko to watch out a meet with some Yardie drugs dealers, and gives Niko a pistol. Little Jacob expects only one gang member, but three appear. They begin to shoot at Little Jacob, with Jacob and Niko open fire too. After the three men are killed, another gang member appears on the roof, but is killed by Niko. After all the gangsters have been killed Niko and Jacob escape the alley way, Little Jacob says that he is impressed at Niko's shooting skills and gives him his number so they can work together later on. Jacob then asks Niko to drive him to the Homebrew Cafe. First job with Jacob After their first meeting, Niko helps Jacob with a problem. The two head to an apartment where dealers that set up a drug deal with Jacob are living. As they arrive, Jacob sends Niko to search for the gangsters behind the apartment building, in case they will. It is proved to be true, and Niko kills the escaping hoods. The two then drives off to another apartment, where the next rival group is located. The two break out the house, killing every member at the house. Following this, Niko drives Jacob to the Cafe. Working for Vlad First use of public transportation A few days later, Niko begins to work off his cousin's large debt by meeting Vlad at a local Russian bar called Comrades. Once Niko arrives, he starts to notice many of the Russians that hang out at the bar, such as a local drunk named Mel, who drunkenly stumbles into Niko while insulting the bar tender, Mickey. Niko walks to the back of the bar where he sees Vlad hugging and saying goodbye to a business associate of his. Vlad then invites Niko to sit down with him and talk about a Chinese shop owner who owes Vlad protection money. Niko then leaves the bar and heads to the China shop on Compton Avenue and Dukes Street in Cerveza Heights, and has a choice of either taking a cab ride to the location, (making this his first time using public transportation), or just driving to the location himself. Once Niko arrives at the China shop, he scares the owner into giving him the protection money, (having several different methods of doing so) and heads back to Comrades. After Niko and Vlad exchange a few insulting words with each other, Niko hands Vlad his protection money and leaves the bar after getting paid $50 for his services. Hotwiring vehicles Niko heads back to Comrades a few days later to receive more work from Vlad. This time Niko hears Vlad talking to Mallorie. Niko warns Vlad to stay away from the her right before he get instructions from Vlad to go to a laundromat to make the shopowner pay his debts. Niko heads out to the laundromat. Once he's there, the shopowner panics and then flees with Niko in pursuit. The shopowner heads out back into his van while Niko hotwires a vehicle and gives chase. After Niko catches the shopowner, he puts enough fear in the shopowner to ensure that the debt he has will be payed soon. Niko then call Vlad to let him know that he was successful in teaching the shopowner a lesson. Vlad then wires $100 into Niko's bank account. Second use of use of public transportation Personality Due to his experience in the war during his mid to late teens, Niko developed a rather cynical and cold view on life. He states that there is no such thing such "new beginning". Niko is very protective over his loved ones, and will not forgive if someone will attack them. Trivia *Niko was the first protagonist in the Grand Theft Auto series to not be American, and for a short time, the only one. *Niko was voted 13th in the 2011 edition of the Guinness World Records for the Top 50 favorite game characters. His name was incorrectly spelled "Nico Bellic". Gallery Artworks Outdoor Series - Niko.jpg|Artwork of Niko Bellic in the "Outdoor Series." Niko and the Gang Artwork.jpg|Niko Bellic and with an unknown gang. Niko and Roman Artwork.jpg|Niko and Roman disposing a body. Niko's Peyote Artwork.jpg|Artwork of Niko in a Peyote during an LCPD chase. Pull Over Artwork.jpg|Artwork of Niko getting pulling over by LCPD's finest. Niko's Shotgun Artwork.jpg|Artwork of Niko holding a shotgun. There are several different artworks of this kind. Screenshots Niko driving through Dukes.jpg|Pre-release screenshot of a beta version of Niko in Dukes. Niko's SMG.jpg|Niko wielding a unique SMG, (which isn't available in the final version of the game). Category:Grand Theft Auto Characters Category:GTA IV Era Category:Protagonists Category:Grand Theft Auto Category:Characters in Grand Theft Auto IV Category:Characters in The Lost and Damned Category:Characters in The Ballad of Gay Tony